Lloyd's to cut staff by nearly 30 per cent

LLOYD'S of London, the insurance market, is to shed 600 jobs this year, a reduction of more than 27 per cent, in a move that will bring its staff numbers down to the levels of the 1970s, writes John Moore.

By the end of this month Lloyd's expects to have laid off 300 to meet this year's target.

The cost-cutting programme, the most ambitious attempted in Lloyd's recent history, is designed to trim costs in the market's administration from pounds 144.5m to pounds 117.9m. In reducing its staff numbers from 2,200 to 1,600 by the end of this year Lloyd's will spend pounds 5m in redundancy payments.

The move comes as part of attempts by the authorities at Lloyd's to signal to the hundreds of businesses operating in the market that it expects them to make similar cuts.

Lloyd's is attempting to force rationalisation throughout its community in the wake of pounds 4.5bn worth of losses that have been sustained by the market in the past three years.